Cooperation

Since we'd already received the location in a document, there was no point in dragging things out, so once preparations were complete, we decided to move immediately to deal with the bandits.

I wasn't sure whether they'd received separate instructions or there was some prior agreement, but despite the visibly disapproving looks from the patrols and guards we encountered—encounters closer to stop-and-frisk—they let us pass freely as long as we showed them the request form Kunz had given us.

Thanks to that, the party easily guessed that the hostility rampant in this city had been deliberately directed at adventurers, and their expressions were far from pleasant.

It was understandable. Innocent adventurers were taking the damage because of the circumstances of the high and mighty. I didn't know what kind of nerve the guild master had to pull this, but this was strictly a serious crime.

"Ugh, this place is really starting to lose its charm."

Among them, the self-proclaimed Englem native Sen frowned as if she found such a reaction extremely displeasing. In fact, it wasn't just her—Merdela, Kals, and Baije seemed to share the same stance and showed similar reactions.

The position of guild master didn't exactly have a set term, and these kinds of things had probably been rampant in the city for quite a long time. Curious if they had truly lived without knowing, I asked, and after a moment of deliberation, Sen answered weakly.

"How should I put it... maybe I should say I wasn't interested because you can get by just fine if you work hard. Or maybe I should say I didn't have the energy to care because there were so many competitors and so much work."

While we headed toward the waterway, I heard that the daily lives of adventurers in Englem were a bit peculiar. Quest rewards were lower than in other cities, and the proportion of city odd jobs was higher than work you could really call adventuring. Unless you gradually built up your career and started handling more dangerous requests, low-rank adventurers lived lives almost identical to day laborers.

But because there were so many miscellaneous requests, the earnings themselves weren't bad. Above all, since the requests were carried out within the city, it was rare for your life to be threatened while gearing up. Compared to other cities, the death and disappearance rate for novice adventurers was said to be overwhelmingly low.

If they had controlled the market with this kind of structure and invested all the profits generated into the welfare of adventurers, it would have remained a very good precedent. The problem was that it was all too obvious they'd embezzled it instead.

"I'm not sure about starting here from the beginning, but if you transfer in after struggling to hang on somewhere else, it's not a bad place at all, you know? I just thought it was a characteristic of the city, but looking back now, it seems they'd meddled with all sorts of things so they could use adventurer manpower however they pleased."

From my perspective, it was a structure close to running a business where you slashed unit costs to skim off the top, cut labor costs to skim more, used that to build results and gain recognition, then took on new work and repeated the same process, so a sense of revulsion washed over me. But it seemed they didn't feel quite the same way.

As she said, it must have been because it was enough to live on. Well, it was obvious that when it was time to take losses, only the adventurers lost out while the guild master pocketed only profits, but the people involved probably had little way of knowing that fact.

Now, they'd simply become the involved parties against their will and were feeling it firsthand.

"What even is an adventurer..."

Seneran murmured quietly, looking at Sen's visibly drained party, but no answer came back.

In the end, under the gloomy atmosphere, we just walked diligently without much conversation until we found the entrance leading to the even more grim underground waterway. Even then, if Mr. Gin, who started showing great interest in the waterway as ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠soon as we arrived, hadn't spoken up, we might have been silent for a while even after entering.

Despite being located in a quite secluded place, since it was strictly an officially managed city facility, the waterway entrance was not only fairly clean but also fitted with various security devices.

Of course, the fact that there were no other troops around besides us, even though the bandits had clearly fled this way, seemed quite problematic, but by now we were in a situation where expecting anything from this city felt like a waste of time, even just feeling incredulous about it.

"Hmm. It's a style commonly found in Itisel ruins. It's a bit disappointing that it's not a completely unfamiliar structure, but I should be satisfied that it makes predicting the interior easier."

After briefly examining the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠eerily bright interior past the lock and iron door that had been cleanly wrecked by the bandits, Mr. Gin nodded with a faint smile, and Gaendal grinned back at him.

"Thanks to Mr. Gin, I'm never worried even when setting foot in places like this. Should I take out the map?"

"No. I already memorized the map earlier. For safety's sake, I'll take the lead this time."

Wow, he memorized that complicated thing? Wondering if I was the only one who hadn't memorized it, I checked the reactions of the others, and the party members had the same reaction as me. Even Asilie was so surprised she asked him again.

"What kind of work exactly were you engaged in before becoming an adventurer, Mr. Gin? The dwarves I've met were all outstanding individuals, but none of them could memorize a complex waterway blueprint in that short a time."

"Hah hah, it's just a difference in know-how. Still, it feels good to seem impressive."

The possibility that Mr. Gin was exceptional seemed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠higher than the possibility that all the dwarves Asilie had met lacked know-how, but since there was no reason to dig deeper, I decided to just accept it.

After that, watching Mr. Gin's imposing figure stride inside without even a torch, I followed wondering if it was really okay, but contrary to my expectations, the surroundings began to glow eerily, as if there was some kind of blue light source that was hard to describe in words.

The strange sight made me instinctively almost step back a few paces, but the people around me seemed to consider this bizarre scene perfectly natural and showed no sign of asking questions.

"But why is it so bright in here? Is there some kind of luminous body?"

Seeing their reactions, it seemed like a very natural phenomenon, yet driven by curiosity, I cautiously approached Mr. Gin and asked quietly. Mr. Gin raised his eyebrows as if it were very unexpected and spoke.

"Hm? Is this your first time in an ancient structure, lad?"

"I may not look it, but I'm still young and a bit narrow in experience."

"Hah hah. You keep looking and acting like such a hardened adventurer that I keep forgetting. To be precise, it's magic. Doesn't it seem like your whole field of vision has been thinly painted with blue dye?"

"Exactly."

If I had to describe it, it felt like seeing the world through night vision, but with the color being a bright blue. Only after hearing his explanation did the waterway, viewed through Magic Sight, reveal itself to be a dense spectacle of fluttering Magic Power itself.

I hadn't felt any sense of dissonance, yet I'd stepped into the domain of magic. Just thinking about if this had been an offensive spell gave me chills, but I feigned calmness as much as possible.

"In reality, the surroundings aren't actually brighter. It's that visualization magic is acting on the person. This entire place is effectively one gigantic magical space."

"...Isn't that incredible?"

"It is incredible. It's also one of the reasons they can't bury these waterways despite the risk of monsters nesting. It's not just the magic that's incredible."

According to Mr. Gin's kind explanation, the entire underground waterway was like a grand assembly of ancient technological prowess. While architectural aspects were gradually advancing, he said that magic-related technologies often proved difficult to catch up to.

"Lost technologies and magic are common occurrences when exploring ruins. In places with technical value, the state sometimes dispatches researchers directly."

"If architectural technology advances, why does ancient magic sometimes surpass it?"

"Hmm, I've lived a fair bit, but that's a tough question to answer definitively. Even scholars research it over and over again. But it's not necessarily that ancient magic is unconditionally superior. It's more like specific fields or specific spells just stand out. There are also theories that related knowledge was lost over time... but we can't know for sure."

Lost technology in my past life was mostly cases where advanced science had rendered it valueless, but it seemed magical technology here wasn't quite like that.

"Usually, people just accept it and move on, so my desire to tell you all sorts of stories, since you're someone who takes an interest like this, is burning intensely. But it looks like we need to prepare soon. I hear sounds."

Mr. Gin, lamenting as if more regretful that he couldn't tell me many stories than about the immediate quest, adjusted his grip on his axe, and at his words, the entire party reacted swiftly. It was a movement befitting seasoned veterans, but Mr. Gin burst into a hearty laugh and waved his hand at the sight.

"Don't worry too much. Unless there's a dwarf among the bandits, they likely haven't noticed us. There's still quite a distance. But judging by the sound, the numbers aren't small. I think it would be better for our friends with mages and ranged weapons to take positions first and launch a surprise attack. What do you think?"

"As I've said before, I'm only somewhat good at fighting. I'll follow Mr. Gin's advice."

"Hah hah hah. Good, then bring out that map. It looks like we'll need to split up and move."

In reality, the plan was simple: ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a ranged ambush followed by a charge exploiting the confusion. But for those who had to separate from Mr. Gin, who found paths as if it were his own backyard, and preoccupy positions, even arriving on time was a task. Knowing this, Mr. Gin meticulously marked the map and explained the locations for those of us who had to move separately.

"It's not hard to climb, and the space is ample, so there's actually a risk of counterattack. Sen's party, move together and prepare for enemies approaching. As for Rellie, Seneran, and Asilie, it would be best if Gaendal, you move with them."

"The space inside will be roomy, right? If I swing my war hammer wrong and something collapses, I don't think I could handle it."

Yekaterina smiled as she jokingly tapped her war hammer, but honestly, knowing how she moved, it sounded entirely serious to me.

"We'll have to see to be sure, but according to the map, it should be quite wide. In fact, similar waterways have clearings made near those areas, so that's what it looks like to me too."

"A clearing in a waterway feels a bit awkward."

"I've heard that ancient underground waterways served a role like roads that only authorized personnel could use. They were probably made for a purpose similar to rest areas."

The idea of using a place where the city's sewage flows as a road seemed like an insane concept, but since I couldn't smell any foul odor, I figured if I could just endure a bit of unease, it wouldn't be unusable.

"Then... I suspect the biggest variable in this job will probably be the bandit holding the weapon presumed to be a Demon Sword. Will you handle it this time as well?"

"Of course. I can't let a valuable experience like this slip away."

I'd suddenly spouted nonsense like some battle-crazed maniac, but I had no intention of just twiddling my thumbs at the opportunity to face whatever it was the bandit held, even before taking on a Demon Sword wielded by a skilled warrior.